ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs
HUDCO celebrates its 48th Foundation Day
New Delhi, 27-04-2018
Shri Hardeep S Puri, Union Minister , inaugurated the 48th Foundation Day celebrations of HUDCO and addressed the august gathering. The Minister, congratulated HUDCO on completing 48 glorious years of service to the nation and highlighted the significant role of HUDCO in realizing the vision of “Housing for All”. He added that HUDCO must now look to adopt some of the identified aspirational districts under its CSR activites. He highlighted the importance of the need to encourage initiative, imagination, and institution building to develop a new India.
On the occasion, the Minister released HUDCO publications namely, HUDCO Darpan, SHELTER, HUDCO Design Awards – 2017 and Sankalp. The Minister stressed that the felicitation is to inspire others in doing good work and gave away awards to the Best performing agencies, HUDCO Best Practices, Nari shakti awards, HUDCO Design Awards etc.
Shri D.S. Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs congratulated HUDCO on its outstanding performance in the last financial year and appreciated HUDCO’s support to the Ministry for all the action plan schemes of the Government of India. He stressed the need to encourage the spirit of innovation to guide HUDCO’s activities, so that HUDCO can aggressively leap forward in the growth of our nation. In view of HUDCO’s consistent performance over the past few years, he expressed confidence that HUDCO would soon attain the status of a navratna company.
Dr. M Ravi Kanth, CMD, HUDCO highlighted HUDCO’s achievements in the last financial year wherein HUDCO attained highest ever sanctions of Rs. 38,627crores and highest ever disbursements of Rs.16562 crores in pursuit of its goals & objectives, with the social motto of Profitability with Social Justice. With these achievements, Hudco’s Balance Sheet has touched a record high of Rs.50,000 crore. He congratulated HUDCO for getting perfect score for the past two years, by getting 100 out of 100, under various parameters stipulated and targets given in MOU. During the year 2017-18, HUDCO reduced defaults of Rs.1,120 crore and has paid corporate tax of Rs.448 crore and dividend of Rs.108 crore and dividend tax of Rs. 25 crore to Government.
Shri N.L. Manjoka, Director , HUDCO proposed Vote of Thanks. The celebrations concluded with a cultural programmes.
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Ministry of Jal Shakti
Safe Quality of Drinking Water Under Jal Jeevan Mission
Jal Jeevan Mission , a centrally sponsored scheme, is being implemented in partnership with States, since August, 2019 to make provision of potable tap water supply to every rural household of the countryon regular and long-term basis, by 2024.At the time of announcement of Jal Jeevan Mission, 3.23 Crore rural households were reported to have tap water connections. So far, 7.42 Crore householdshave been provided with tap water connections in last 39 months. Thus, as on 4thDecember,2022, out of 19.35 Crore rural households in the country, around 10.65 Crore  households are reported to have tap water supply in their homesand the remaining 8.7 Crore rural households are planned to be covered by 2024.
Goa has become the first ‘Har Ghar Jal’ certified State in the country, where people from all the villages have declared their village as ‘Har Ghar Jal’ through a resolution passed by Gram Sabha, certifying that all households in the villages have access to safe drinking water through taps, ensuring that ‘No One is Left Out’. All 2.63 lakh rural households of Goa have access to potable water through tap connection.
The status of tap connections to rural householdsas reported by States/ UTs on JJM dashboard, is at Annex. The State/ district/ village-wise status as well as progress in making provision of tap water supply torural households, as reported by States/ UTs, is also available on JJM dashboard, which is in public domain at:
https://ejalshakti.gov.in/jjmreport/JJMIndia.aspx
This Information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
Sea Plane Facility at Sabarmati River
Under Regional Connectivity scheme - UDAN, the seaplane service between Sabarmati River Front & Statue of Unity commenced on 31st October , 2020. Later ,the same was stopped by the selected Airline Operator from 11th April, 2021 due to operational reasons. Ministry of Civil Aviation  has taken up the matter with the concerned stakeholders for making seaplane operations viable. MoCA has also signed an MoU with M/o Ports, Shipping & Waterways  for development of Seaplane services.
Following Water aerodromes have been identified in the states of Gujarat, Assam, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshdweep details under UDAN Scheme:
1. Sardar Sarovar Dam  in Gujarat
2. Sabarmati River Front, Ahmadabad, Gujarat
3. Shatrunjay Dam in Gujarat
4. Swaraj Dweep in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
5. Havelock Island in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
6. Shaheed Dweep  in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
7. Guwahati riverfront in Assam
8. Umrangso Reservoir in Assam
9. Nagarjuna Sagar Dam in Telangana
10. Prakasam Barrange in Andhra Pradesh
11. Minicoy in Lakshdweep Islands
12. Kavaratti in Lakshdweep Islands
13. Portblair in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
14. Agatti in Laskhdweep Islands
This information was given by Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shri Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Defence
Indian Navy to set up Naval Aircraft and submarine museum on the lines of the Vizag Naval museum in Kolkata. Naval ships on display for school children and government employees at Kidderpore.
Kolkata, December 03, 2018.
To motivate young school children to join Indian Navy, Indian Navy will set up a permanent Naval museum and a submarine museum in Kolkata on the lines of the Vizag Naval museum, said Naval Officer-in-Charge, West Bengal, Commodore Suprobho De. He informed that MoU with the state government for the proposed museums would be signed very soon. He was briefing the media on the eve of Navy Day celebrations here today. He reiterated that Indian Navy is committed to protect Indian coasts and so far, 70% of fishing boats in West Bengal have been fitted with Automated Information System . Proactive measures are being taken to protect Indian fishermen and bio-metric IDs are being provided to them so that careful watch can be kept upon their movement, revealed Commodore De.
Captain Sumanta Roy, Chief Staff Officer informed that as part of Navy Week Celebrations, Navy warships of the Eastern Fleet “INS Sumedha and INS Kirch” will be open for organized visit at Kolkata Port  by school children, fishing communities of the state, serving and retired personnel and their dependants and central and state government employees from 9 AM to 5 PM on 4th and 5th December 2018. All visitors will be provided a guided tour of the both the warships which would be berthing at KDS 11. Due to security concerns, entry is restricted to Indian Nationals only and visitors are requested to carry valid photo identification cards such as Aadhaar Card, PAN Card, Biometric Card or Driving License. Entry to Kidderpore Docks would be from Gate No. 3 only. Visitors are also advised not to carry cameras, webcams, hand bags, any kind of electronic storage devices for security reasons. Reporting point for visitors will be at the Reception cum Liaison Cell being set-up at the KDS 11 jetty next to Gate No. 3 of Kidderpore Docks. Naval personnel in uniform would be present to ensure that all visitors are ushered to the warships.
Prime Minister's Office
PM remembers freedom fighter, Mangal Pandey on his birth anniversary
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to freedom fighter, Mangal Pandey on his birth anniversary.
The Prime Minister tweeted;
"The great Mangal Pandey is synonymous with courage and determination. He ignited the spark of patriotism at a very critical period of our history and inspired countless people. Remembering him on his birth anniversary. Had paid tributes to his statue in Meerut earlier this year."
Ministry of Defence
Agreement with USA for Supply of Arms
One contract and two Letters of Offer and Acceptance  have been concluded with the US side for procurement of Helicopters and Self Protection Suite. The delivery of the helicopters will commence from May, 2021.
Countries such as US, Russia, France, Germany, Israel, UK are leading exporters of defence equipment. The Defence requirement of other countries including South Asian countries is not available in public domain.
This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Shripad Naik in a written reply to Shri Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma and Shri Vijay Kumar Hansdak in Lok Sabha today.
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Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation
5th National Swachh Iconic Places review in Mumbai Significant Progress in Sanitation at 20 Locations
The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and State Government agencies, local administrations and the Trusts/ Boards of the Swachh Iconic Places  came together for a two-day consultation in Mumbai, represented by over 100 delegates from across the country. The consultation included a field visit to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus where systematic Sanitation and restoration work is underway.
The Swachh Iconic Places initiative aims to achieve a distinctly higher level of sanitation at these places, especially in the peripheries and approach areas. Following the clarion call by the Prime Minister to make Swachhata everybody’s business, the Centre and selected States have taken up joint efforts for making the country’s iconic places Swachh. The special Swachhata initiatives at these places have received CSR support from public and private companies.
During the consultation, a review was also done of the work already taken up at the 20 Phase-I and Phase-II SIPs. These SIPs demonstrated significant progress in development of Sanitation facilities.
Presiding over the review, Secretary of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri ParameswaranIyer, while lauding the efforts made by this various teams, emphasized the importance of inter-sectoral collaborations in improvement of Sanitation.
Director General, Special Projects, Swachh Bharat Mission, Shri Akshay Rout, made a presentation on the progress of work at various iconic sites over last two years. The extensive Swachhata related efforts at these iconic places were exhibited at the consultation. Additional Chief Secretary Maharashtra Shri Sham Lal underlined the range of ODF sustainability measures taken up by the State.
Secretary, MDWS, also launched the Swachh Iconic Place  portal and logo created by the Ministry. The SIP portal is now live onhttp://swachhiconicplaces.gov.in/
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Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Railways announce increase in frequency of Devlali-Muzaffarpur Kisan Rail to Tri-weekly due to overwhelming demand; loading has increased almost 4 times since the inaugural run
Link Kisan Rail from Sangola- Manmad- Daund also to run Tri-weekly
Due to overwhelming demand, Railway has decided to increase the frequency of Devlali-Muzaffarpur Bi-weekly Kisan Rail as Tri-weekly with effect from 08.9.2020 onwards. Giving this information in a press communiqué issued yesterday, the Public Relations Department of Central Railway said that CR will also increase the frequency of Link Kisan Rail from Bi-weekly to Tri-weekly between Sangola and Manmad which will be attached/detached to Devlali-Muzaffarpur Kisan Rail at Manmad. The details are as under:
A. 00107/00108 Devlali-Muzaffarpur-Devlali Kisan Rail 
Train No. 00107 Kisan Rail will depart Devlali at 18.00 hrs as at present on every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 8.9.2020 to 25.9.2020 and reach Muzaffarpur Jn. at 04.45 hrs on third day.
Train No. 00108 Kisan Rail will depart Muzaffarpur Jn at 08.00 hrs on every Thursday,Saturday and Monday from 10.09.2020 to 27.9.2020 and will arrive Manmad at 13.00 hrs on next day.
Halts: Nashik Road , Manmad, Jalgaon , Bhusaval, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Harda, Itarsi, Pipariya , Gadarwara , Narsinghpur , Jabalpur, Katni, Satna, Manikpur, Prayagraj Chheoki, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jn, Buxar and Danapur.
Composition: This train will have 5 parcel vans from Devlali.
B. 00109/00110 Sangola-Manmad-Daund  Link Kisan Rail
Train No. 00109 link Kisan Rail will depart Sangola at 08.00 hrs on every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 8.9.2020 to 25.9.2020 and reach Manmad at 18.30 hrs same day.
Train No. 00110 link Kisan Rail will depart Manmad at 14.00 hrs on every Friday, Sunday and Tuesday from 11.09.2020 to 28.09.2020 and arrive Daund at 18.15 hrs same day.
Halts: for 00109 - Pandharpur, Kurduwadi, Daund, Belvandi, Ahmednagar, Belapur, Kopergaon, for 00110 - Ahmednagar.
The loading of Kisan Rail on inaugural day  was 90.92 tonnes, 99.91 tonnes on 14.8.2020; 235.44 tonnes on 21.8.2020. The frequency was increased as Bi-weekly from 25.8.2020 when loading was 273.74 tonnes; 277.64 tonnes on 28.8.2020 and 354.29 tonnes on 1.9.2020. Now, with increase in frequency, the trend of increase in loading is also expected to increase.
Ministry of Textiles
Centre takes steps to enhance productivity and marketing capabilities in Handloom Sector
The Government has taken the following steps proactively to address the issues arising out of pandemic.
- Ministry of Textiles has requested the States and UTs for their State Handloom Corporations/Co-operatives/Agencies to make purchases of the finished inventory available with the handloom weavers/artisans.
- Steps have been taken to on-board weavers on Government e-Market place to enable them to sell their products directly to various Government Departments and organizations. So far about 1.50 Lakh weavers have been on-boarded on the GeM portal.
- To enhance productivity, marketing capabilities and ensure better incomes, 128 Handloom Producer companies have been formed in different States.
- Under Concessional Credit/Weaver MUDRA Scheme, financial assistance is provided as follows:
- Margin money assistance
- @ 20% of loan amount, subject to maximum of Rs. 25,000/- per weaver,
- @ 20% of loan amount, subject to maximum of Rs. 20.00 lakh  per handloom organization,
- Interest subvention upto 7% for 3 years; and
- Credit Guarantee on loans for 3 years
- Design Resource Centres have been set up in Weavers’ Service Centres at Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati and Kancheepuram, through NIFT with the objective to build and create design-oriented excellence in the Handloom Sector and to facilitate weavers, exporters, manufacturers and designers access design repositories for sample/product improvisation and development.
- To promote marketing of handloom products, Handloom Export Promotion Council has been organizing International Fairs in virtual mode. During the year 2020-21, 12 handloom fairs were organized in virtual mode. Besides, domestic marketing events were also organized in different parts of the country for the weavers to market and sell their products.
- Raw Material Supply Scheme is being implemented throughout the country to make available Yarn to Handloom weavers. Under the Scheme, freight charges are reimbursed for all types of yarn; and component of 15% price subsidy is there for cotton hank yarn, domestic silk, wool and linen yarn and blended yarn of natural fibres, with quantity caps.
- 534 number of Chaupals were organized in various States to educate the weavers to avail benefits of various handloom schemes for their welfare and socio-economic development.
- To promote e-marketing of handloom products, 23 e-commerce entities have been engaged for online marketing of handloom products.
- Marketing platform is provided to the handloom agencies/weavers by organizing marketing expos/ events to sell their products.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Textiles Smt. DarshanaJardosh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Railways
Report in social media that Railways is going to cancel special train services from 31st March is misleading.
Kindly refer to some news report in social media that Railways is going to cancel its trains which are currently operational from 31st March,2021 is purely misleading and not based on facts.
Wrong news clips are being circulated in social media. All may please be informed that the video being circulated is last year's news being peddled today.
Indian Railways has not made any such announcement.
It may be noted that express trains and suburban trains currently operational as special trains will continue to run. It is also requested that the passengers may follow covid protocol while travelling.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Lion @ 47: Vision for Amrutkal” to secure and restore lions’ habitats
Project Lion envisages landscape ecology based conservation of the Asiatic Lion in Gujarat
The Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, today said that the Project Lion document titled “Lion @ 47: Vision for Amrutkal” has been prepared with the following objectives to secure & restore lions’ habitats for managing its growing population; scale up livelihood generation and participation of local communities; become a global hub of knowledge on big cat disease diagnostics and treatment and create inclusive biodiversity conservation through project lion initiative.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Shri Choubey said that Project Lion envisages landscape ecology based conservation of the Asiatic Lion in Gujarat by integrating conservation and eco-development. The Project is being implemented in the Gir landscape in Gujarat which is the last home of the Asiatic lion.
The Minister further informed that Project Tiger is being implemented in tiger landscapes spread across the country in 53 tiger reserves. Both projects envisage activities which ensure overall conservation of the entire ecosystem inhabited by these flagship species.
The written reply stated that Project Lion is being implemented by the State Government of Gujarat and other stakeholders like Central Zoo Authority. Financial assistance of Rs. 124.58lakhs have been provided to State of Gujarat for conservation of wildlife including Asiatic Lions under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme - ‘Development of Wildlife Habitats’ during last three years. Further, revalidation of Rs 1641.42 lakhs of grants released during 2018-19 under the Asiatic Lion Conservation project has also been done during the period. The State Government of Gujarat has submitted the Utilization Certificate for the funds released as Central share under Asiatic Lion Conservation project.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurates and lays foundation stones of 21 National Highways projects worth Rs 9400 crore in Ranchi, Jharkhand
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid foundation stones for 21 projects of 532 km at a cost of more than Rs 9400 crore at Dhurva in Ranchi, Jharkhand today.
Shri Gadkari said with the construction of 260 km 4-lane inter-corridor from Ranchi to Varanasi at a cost of 7000 crores, Ranchi to Varanasi can be reached in 5 hours. He said the 635 km, 4-lane Raipur-Dhanbad Economic Corridor will facilitate transportation of coal, steel, cement and other minerals.
MJPS
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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Centre Reviews Status and Progress of COVID Vaccination with States/UTs
States/UTs urged to increase Pace and Coverage of Second Dose
States to generate district wise list of beneficiaries for administration of second dose
Advised to draw District-wise Plan involving District Magistrates for saturation of beneficiaries
Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary reviewed the progress of COVID19 vaccination with Health Secretaries and Mission Directors of National Health Mission  of States and UTs, through video conference  today. The focus of the meeting was to urge the states and UTs to increase the pace of the countrywide vaccination and coverage of the second dose. This comes in the backdrop of the country achieving the milestone of administering 100 crore doses on 21st October 2021.
Highlighting the sizeable number of eligible beneficiaries who have not received their 2nd dose of vaccine, the Union Health Secretary urged the States and UTs to focus on those beneficiaries who are waiting for their second dose after their interval period has been over.
States/UTs were also urged to improve the momentum of vaccination and accelerate the coverage as the country moves forward to vaccinate all the eligible population by end of the year under the nation-wide COVID vaccination drive. So, far 71.24 Cr first doses covering 76% of the eligible population and 30.06 Cr second doses covering 32.0% of the eligible population has been administered the COVID vaccines. Line list of due beneficiaries COVID-19 Vaccination Centre wise  is available on the CoWIN platform the States were requested to access the same. The Secretary noted that the detailed line-lists of due beneficiaries can be utilized for preparing a district-wise 2nd dose administration plan involving the District Magistrate for execution in a time-bound manner. It was suggested for States/UTs to review the progress of such district-wise plan daily, to ensure saturation of all eligible beneficiaries.
States and UTs were also advised to identify and prioritize districts having low coverage for focused action and explore requirement for mobilization efforts, addressing local challenges, need for additional COVID Vaccination Centres and improving access in rural areas. They were also requested to share their strategies to enhance second dose coverage.
Dr. Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary  and other senior officials of the Health Ministry were present in the meeting along with Principal Secretary , Additional Chief Secretary  and State Surveillance Officer of the States/UTs.
Ministry of Labour & Employment
ESIC wins ‘ISSA GOOD Practice Award, Asia & the Pacific 2018’
 has won the ‘ISSA Good Practice Award’ for Administrative Solution for Coverage Extension at the “Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific” held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently.
The award recognizes the measures taken by ESIC for extension of coverage-SPREE , reduced rate of contribution rates for 24 months in newly implemented areas and raising the wage limit for coverage under the ESI Act, etc.
Shri Raj Kumar, IAS, Director General, ESIC represented Employees’ State Insurance Corporation and received the Certificate of Merit on behalf of ESIC.
The Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific is a triennial Forum, which is the most important social security event in the Region. For the triennial Regional Forum, ISSA invites submissions for the ISSA Good Practices Award for Asia and the Pacific Regions. The Forum provides unique opportunities to CEOs and Managers of ISSA Member Institutions to discuss key social security challenges and share their experiences.
The ISSA  is the principal international organization for Social Security Organizations, Govts. and Departments of Social Security. The ISSA, founded in 1927 under the auspices of the International Labour Organization , Geneva, promotes excellence in social security administration through professional guidelines, expert knowledge, services and support to enable its Members to develop dynamic social security systems.
The ESI Corporation hosts ISSA Liaison Office for South Asia at New Delhi. The Liasion Office coordinates with the Member countries and Social Security Institutions in Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Iran on activities of ISSA related to social security.